


Everything I Ever Did Was Just Another Way To Scream Your Name

by deandratb



Series: The Best of the Best and the Worst of the Worst [6]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-19
Updated: 2018-08-19
Packaged: 2019-06-29 03:54:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15721452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deandratb/pseuds/deandratb
Summary: Unfinished stories from Riverdale that may or may not be pulled out of this collection and completed someday. Read at your own risk; I just needed them to have a more-organized home.





	1. You'll Always Be My Favorite Ghost

**Author's Note:**

> These are INCOMPLETE stories. These scenes have been sitting in my drafts for a long time, waiting for me to finish them, and have not been betaed, so please keep that in mind if you read.
> 
> You're welcome to give your opinion and I don't mind if you ask me to return to working on the ones you like--just be aware that I might never do so. :)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alice's thoughts on her past with FP and how it affects her present.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All of my Falice snippets were written as I watched the show for the first time, jotted down among meta ramblings and notes on canon. I desperately want to write these two but need a rewatch--I definitely don't know the world well enough.

_"Will you try to give him the benefit of the doubt?" Betty asks. "For me?"_

Oh, Alice thinks, staring at her daughter's earnest face. Oh, if only she knew.

Luckily, youth is incredibly self-centered, and Betty is too caught up in her own drama to give much thought to what the revelation of her mother's past means.

She doesn’t wonder why her mother treats FP like a man she’s never met before if they all went to the same school. She doesn’t catch the way he looks at Alice now, as he delivers milkshakes and chats with his son after school and works his way to redemption.

Betty doesn’t see the history and the pain and the naked longing.

Though she wishes otherwise, Alice does.

****

 _“Hal would never come.”_ She throws it in his face deliberately. Not a sincere excuse, just a jab, one that misses its mark. FP has never been threatened by Hal, not really. 

_“Well, then, leave him. At home.”_

It’s the hesitation between the phrases, the way FP blinks as though he has startled himself--this snake in the grass who fears no one, looking almost scared for a moment. That’s probably what changes her mind. The way his voice is softer when he clarifies. The way he backs down first.

Alice chooses to go to the party to keep an eye on Betty, yes, but more than that, to prove something. To FP, to the whole damn town...to herself.

She decides to go to say hello to people she has secretly missed. Maybe even to recover a part of herself that she missed.

And then she sees that part of herself in her daughter, the worst kind of mirror, and the party is over.

****

 _“Well, I can’t.”_ She can’t watch him burn his son’s hopes to the ground, along with the feeble ones she was pretending she hadn’t been nurturing herself, for his new life.

Alice can’t keep remembering what it was like when she and FP were Betty and Jughead’s age. She can’t see her daughter outfitted for the Snake Dance without reliving her own.

Alice knows Betty will think she's leaving because she disapproves, or because she's out of her element, surrounded by Serpents.

But the truth is more dangerous than that. It's too easy to come back, to feel at home, to let the years fade away.

And it's better that they all think she's a snob, retreating to her world of privilege. _A Serpent never shows cowardice._

Just like the first time, she really has no other choice. 

Alice runs for her life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title borrowed from "Big God" by Florence and the Machine.


	2. In Our Hearts We Know The Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A teenage prequel fic: how Alice and FP met, fell in love, and fell apart, both trying to mend their broken hearts with the families that followed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I was working on this concept while I watched the show, piecing together my headcanons about the history between FP and Alice as it went along. By the end of season 2, the show had demolished a lot of my hard work! But I still really like what I was building, so I'm hanging onto it. If I ever finish this, it'll just be non-canon compliant. Right now it's mostly background notes.

“Who’s that guy?”

“Who?” She blinked, genuinely confused before she matched the jealous glint in FP’s eyes to the boy over by the lockers.

“Oh, you mean Hal. He was just asking me something. It’s not a big deal.” Alice reached into her pocket and pulled out the cinnamon gum she never seemed to run out of. “I met him decorating for Prom.”

“Prom?” If she said she had met the guy walking the streets at night, FP would have been less surprised. “Since when are you into Prom–you hate all that crap.”

Alice huffed out a breath, answering before popping two sticks into her mouth at once. “Part of my rehabilitation after the arrest. They’re trying to redirect my wayward energies…or, I think that’s what Mr. Earnest said. I wasn’t really listening.”

She snapped her gum while his gaze flicked between her and the Northsider, still suspicious.

****

Alice had big dreams. She always wanted to get out of the Southside, to have more, even though not much was expected from her. But she also liked boys, and adventure, and the first time she dated a Serpent she was only fourteen.

FP didn’t need dreams--after his father kicked him out at sixteen and told him to go to hell, just finding a place to belong was enough. His association with the Serpents was part of what got him disowned, so Hell was waiting for him with open arms and leather jackets.

At fifteen, Alice became a Serpent to join her boyfriend, getting her tattoo low down on her left hip. She was young, but dangerous. She earned the respect of the others.

FP saw her in the White Wyrm for the first time while she performed the Snake Dance. He was dumbstruck, and when Alice glanced his way, her fierce eyes lingered a moment too long. 

But she was taken, so he left it alone. His new family mattered more than any girl, even a beautiful one with a laugh sharp as glass. 

When she was sixteen and FP was seventeen, Alice broke up with her boyfriend. The rumor was he had tried to force her into something. Nobody knew what, but he had a broken nose and walked with a limp for a week. Though violence within the gang was frowned on, she wasn't challenged.

Everybody knew you didn't mess with Alice. 

FP waited two weeks before he asked her out. Their heat led to a lot of arguments, but he couldn't get enough of her and she was happy ruling the Serpents at his side. It was almost a full year of love on fire, two kids as king and queen of the Underworld.

Junior year, a battle with the Northside exploded, and Alice got arrested. It scared FP to realize how much she mattered to him, and he pulled away. Maybe he was helping ruin her life by keeping her so tied in to the Serpent violence. Maybe she would be happier without him.

Out on bail, she was forced to do community service on the Northside and went through the motions defiantly. The only highlight of her time there was when Hal spotted her and asked her out.

Alice was mainly trying to make an increasingly distant FP jealous when she said yes, but it turned out Hal wasn't so bad for a Northsider. She went with him to his parents’ summer home when he invited her. He showed her a world she had never considered for herself before.

FP was miserable and bitter about how quickly she went from his bed to Hal's, but decided it was for the best. She had made her choice. He signed up to join the military on his eighteenth birthday; the sooner he put his hometown behind him, the better.

She finally, fully ended things with FP at the end of May, as junior year was about to be over. It broke both their hearts, but he turned all his energy toward the Serpents while he waited to leave Riverside...while she remade herself in Hal's image and came back to be his perfect match as a senior.

Alice realized she was several months pregnant after senior year started, and decided that Hal was her best bet for a great family for the baby. When she told him, she was shocked by his attitude and the way he pressured her to give the boy up.

She almost tried to take all of it back, and tell FP the truth, but she decided against it. He was going. He had made his choice.

Hal promised to marry Alice and take her across the tracks as long as they never spoke of the baby again, because it wasn’t his son and never would be. That was the price she paid to shed her snakeskin and get a whole new life. That was when she knew they would never have the kind of love she and FP had shared.

But any kind of forever was better than being alone. 

Alice locked away her feelings and a piece of her soul along with the Serpent jacket she buried in an attic trunk, and became a Cooper. 

Then she watched as her daughter was drawn to FP's son, while nothing she said or did could stop it. 

****

Alice was so rude about Jughead  **because** she saw FP in him. Because contrary to popular opinion--which she encouraged to help cover her own feelings--FP was also a soft-hearted kid once, who was just doing what he had to do to stay alive and protect people. She knew how easy it was to fall for a boy like that, who was sweet and fierce at the same time, who could smile at you while he bleeds and make your heart stutter.

FP poured salt in his own wounds by flirting with Alice and enjoying her feigned disgust, because after Jughead left him alone in their godawful trailer he found himself thinking about her too much. Not her upscale Northside persona, but the teenager who was the bright spot in his life for a while. When he wanted to drink himself to death, Alice would pluck the bottle from his hand without asking, gulping her share and ignoring his protests. Even as a girl she was made of steel. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title borrowed from "100 Years" by Florence and the Machine.


	3. 7 Times Alice Flirted With Her Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The return of the Serpent, or how Alice Cooper got her dark side back. Deleted scenes fic set during season two.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An idea given to me by a friend when all we had seen of s2 was Alice's arrival at the open house party in That Dress and her arrival at the Wyrm in Serpent attire.

I.

Alice dresses for the open house and embraces her past.

Knowing that Hal will be furious, she finds herself wondering what FP would think of her debut if he were going to be there.

 

II. 

It’s a cheap shot, but she can’t help it. 

She resents the way seeing him brings the memories back, every single time.

And how dare he come out of prison still looking so damn sexy?

She hopes thoughts of her keep him up that night. It's the least he deserves.

 

III.

Alice decides to go to FP's retirement party only after his little hesitation when they're talking about Hal.

She is making the rounds, saying hello to old friends, when FP arrives. The other Snakes mind their business as he corners her near the back door, doing a remarkably good job of ignoring what's happening right in front of their faces. 

“Well. You can take the girl away from the Serpents but you can’t take the Serpent out of the girl.” He lets his gaze wander. And linger. And caress. He dares her to complain, knowing she won’t. Her pride won’t allow it. Instead Alice just matches his smirk with that proud jut of her chin.

"Happy retirement party, FP," she tells him when he doesn't move along. He nods and ducks his head a little, reminding her of the shy boy she grew up with, until he goes back to staring at her. The edgy look in his eyes these days is nothing like when they were kids. He's seen too much and he carries it with him.

She knows the feeling.

"You look good," FP says, boxing her in closer to the wall. "Relaxing suits you." She wonders how far he's willing to push--she wonders how far she's willing to let him. She's tempted.

Faintly, Alice hears music as the kids start performing a wistful song that reminds her of being young and bruised. The stage isn't visible from their current spot in the back; they should really go join the festivities.

FP's eyes drop down to her mouth, then back up. He smiles that slow wolfish grin of his, and a piece of Alice that she thought she buried sixteen years earlier quakes in response.

"What do you want, Alice?" He asks, reaching out to touch her tousled hair. "What are you really here to prove?”

She opens her mouth, not sure if she's about to tell FP the truth or kiss that knowing look off his face, until one of the Serpents steps into their space.

He clears his throat. "Sorry," he says to both of them with his eyes on the floor. "Important."

Alice doesn't remember his name, though he looks familiar. Whoever he is, she owes him one. 

"It's fine." She smiles a little and leaves before FP can say a word. Betty is singing now, she realizes as she cuts through the crowd. She wasn't expecting that. 

 _Honestly, that girl,_ Alice thinks in exasperation on her way to the stage. _Every time she turns around, there's a new secret._

When she makes it to the front and sees Betty at the pole, another part of her heart breaks. Until that moment, she didn't know she had any whole pieces left.

FP comes in clapping his hands and shields her daughter with a leather jacket, the only person not frozen by the spell Betty cast. 

He doesn't look right, Alice thinks.

She knows him so well--too well--and his face is covering a feeling that matches what's inside her: the loss of a child, as certan as death even though their teens are standing a few feet away. 

It's too much for Alice to handle, Betty following the footsteps she tried to erase and FP throwing his second chance away right in front of her. 

She doesn't even bother taking Betty with her when she leaves; all she's thinking about is escape. 

 

IV.

After the party, Alice goes to FP's trailer to thank him for trying to shield Betty. Despite constant vigilance, she has somehow failed to do that. It means a lot that he tried.

She also goes to berate him for giving up on retirement and sobriety, when he claimed to want a second chance.

Though he was defensive and angry with Jughead, FP doesn't bother putting up a front with Alice. He is tired and sad as he explains that it wasn't a choice he made for himself, but a move to protect his son.

He thought Jughead had a shot, a way out, and that’s over. FP expects her to understand, because she thought the same for him once.

They talk about being parents to kids who seem determined to go looking for trouble...and they talk about being kids who used to create trouble when they weren't able to find it. 

He offers her a drink and within the nostalgia something almost happens between them. 

It doesn’t, though. Alice goes back to what remains of her life.

 

V. 

After the handholding in the diner, she arrives at his home to warn him that they need to be more careful around the kids. FP wouldn’t want them getting the wrong idea, would he?

“I feel like all I do is thank you lately,” she tells him.

“Like I said, Alice, we take care of our own. You know that.”

“Please. Let me finish, before I lose my nerve.” Lacing her fingers together in her lap, Alice meets his eyes. “When we were together, all those years ago, when we ended...I said and did things that I regret.”

FP watches her gather her resolve. She is beautiful in that moment, not that she ever isn’t. But it is rare for Alice Cooper to let people see her vulnerable side, especially him. It is a side he has always felt drawn to. 

“Now,” Alice continues, “every time I’m in trouble, it’s you who’s right there to save me. To protect me, and my family. And I just keep thinking that I owe you an apology, FP. Because it was probably always going to end messy, and it was guaranteed to hurt--you and I never did anything gently. But when it did end, when we broke up...I told you that I never loved you, and that was a lie. I did, all along.”

 

VI.

After she meets with the kids at the school, embracing her Southside history, she goes to thank FP one last time. They don’t do very much talking.

 

VII.

Alice storms out of Pop’s, hurt that she’s finally ready to put herself out there and FP won’t meet her halfway.

He takes his break and follows her outside, pulls her behind the building, confronts her.

They clear the air a little.

FP presses her into the wall for a long kiss and invites her to come back in. He offers to buy her a milkshake. "Just like our first date."

"We'll never be able to go back in time," she points out, shaking her head. "Maybe our problem is that we keep trying."


	4. Five Times Alice Avoided FP And One Time She Didn’t

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Moments when something could have changed between them, but Alice wasn't ready...plus the first time she was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a totally-not-fleshed-out concept that I had to save, because I love the idea of her seeing FP at the musical and also I want his new role at Veronica's speakeasy to be the setting of some serious Falice fun.

V.

Alice saw FP pull up outside while she was in the lobby. Since Jughead wasn't in the production and FP wasn't exactly a supporter of Northside society, she knew why he was there.

It was too late.

Alice slipped backstage to start getting ready for the musical rather than face him. It would be beyond awkward, now that she had taken Hal back.

Stupid of her, thinking she and FP might have a chance at a fresh start.

All they could do was move on. 

 

VI.

The speakeasy was all the rage, and FP was running it.

It took Alice a while to seek stability, to feel safe in her own skin after Hal. But she was finally herself again, whoever that had been before years of denial warped her into someone unrecognizable.

On a random Tuesday night, Alice went to the basement bar just to order a drink and see him.

He looked at her like he had been waiting for nothing else.


	5. I Can Hear The Sirens But I Cannot Walk Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alice goes to FP's trailer, mid-season 2. Potential PWP.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is really just snippets of dialogue that I wrote as I watched S2, without making sense out of them at the time. Right now they're best suited for a shameless smut one-shot, but that may evolve into an actual story once I work on it.

“If you’re looking for a shoulder to cry on over the mistakes you’ve made, you’ve come to the wrong guy,” FP said, his voice carrying the years between them. “I’ve made ‘em all. And I’m not sorry, so go find your husband or one of your Northside friends to sympathize.”

“I’m not looking for sympathy.” She pushed past him, shutting his door behind her, and took a seat on his couch. “I feel terrible about a lot of things--you’re right about that. But I was young when I made those mistakes, and there’s nothing I can do to change any of it now."

“Then why come to me?”

“Because I’m sick of crying about it. I’m done being sad about the life I don’t have--the life I thought I wanted.”

FP tilted his head, studying her perfectly-made up face. That was Alice Cooper these days, never a hair out of place.

So brittle he felt like she might break under the slightest pressure.

“I want to know how you live with it, where you’ve ended up.” She pressed her lips together, voice soft when she continued. “I knew you, FP. I know what you thought your life was going to be.”

“Yeah, well, I guess neither of us got what we wanted.”

Shaking her head, she started to stand back up, freezing when he approached. “You know what? You’re right. I don’t know why I came here.”

FP sat down next to her, a little too close. His smirk was a little too warm.

****

"Things are such a mess. Sometimes it seems like I'm going crazy." She sighed. "Same as ever, right? Broken, and hurting, and making all the wrong choices. Like coming here in the middle of the day." 

“So what? Everybody’s broken, Alice. Everybody’s hurting. You’re not crazier than me or anybody else.”

FP kissed her tears without expecting them to stop. He couldn’t heal her pain with words, and he didn’t try. He comforted her with his hands, his mouth, his body.

Her husband demanded that Alice paper over her cracks, always had. She filled them in with being a mom, a wife, a name in Riverdale. But FP had never needed her to smooth them over in the first place.

****

“You really think I’ve got a problem with fucking you behind Hal’s back? The things I’ve done? I’ve dumped bodies, Alice." FP's growl warmed to a purr as he ran his hands through her hair.

"And you were mine first.”  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title borrowed from "Sky Full of Song" by Florence and the Machine.

**Author's Note:**

> Story title borrowed from "South London Forever" by Florence and the Machine.


End file.
